Price of Secrets
by YumeMori
Summary: Everyone has secrets. Sometimes they're innocent. Sometimes they can almost destroy a world, a civilization, or an organization. Once the dam of secrets has been opened, it can never be closed again. And it will bring together the most unlikely people to try and save the world. Takes place in Marvel Cinematic Universe.
1. I

"Never trust anyone, especially the people you admire. Those are the ones who will make you suffer the worst blows." – Carlos Ruiz Zafón, _The Shadow of the Wind_

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><p><strong> I.I. 4 April 2014<strong>

S.H.I.E.L.D. was a vast agency with secret bases, sleeper cells, and black book R&D projects that not even all the agents and employees knew about, let alone the governments of the world. They did not solely rely on Stark Tech, not like back in the S.S.R. days, for all their cool toys, but their level 5 and above engineers and techs were employed for the purpose of creating cutting edge gadgets, weapons, and other tech. These engineers were responsible for the advances and improvements of all technology used by S.H.I.E.L.D.

But for all the structure and compartmentalization of S.H.I.E.L.D., when HYDRA activated their own protocol to take direct control of the agency, the warning came too late. The attack took their base by surprise, their call for help went unanswered in all the ensuing chaos and other S.O.S. calls from every other base. None let go of their loyalties, nearly all had been executed. Every single person at their base was level 6 and above, they were trained field agents despite being lab rats as well, but they weren't enough to fight off such infiltration. Especially not since many of them had been fellow engineers and agents, friends…

Many brilliant engineers died rather than submit, many died destroying their creations. Others died or submitted trying to protect others, to buy them more time.

Others were like Engineer Higurashi, who watched from the escape duct hidden in the northwest corner of his office as his second kneeled before HYDRA agents, swearing his loyalty was not for sale or change. He flinched and bit down on his hand to keep quiet when the gunshot rang out and his closest friend died on the floor in front of his escape route. Engineer Higurashi had never been brave or courageous; his mother always said that all of that went to his sister, while he gained all the empathy.

It was empathy that paralyzed him now, realizing the extent of his cowardice and his coworkers' courage. It was only when he heard the sounds of the betrayers turning his office upside down, looking for whatever, that he backcrawled his way down his escape route.

Only a coward may live, but only a coward is chased.

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><p><strong>5 April 2014<strong>

"And this…Engineer Higurashi?" Tony Stark asked more than said, but didn't wait for a reply. "You sure he's alive?"

Former Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., but now just another employee in the on-going Stark privatization of global security, Maria Hill nodded. "Positive. From the intel that I've been receiving from a…confidential source, what's left of HYDRA is still trying to find him as well."

Stark sighed, tossing the file onto his desk. "I don't even see what's so special about him. Or why anyone would bother targeting one engineer when they likely have hundreds now."

"Do you remember the Photostatic Veil? While your father did develop the prototype, it was Engineer Higurashi who turned it into what it is today. It should also go without saying that he was working on many other projects and breakthroughs in V.R., A.I., and holographic technology. He's one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s brightest engineers."

Hill paused as she remembered who she was dealing with now, who her boss was now. She was lucky as she had a head up and escaped before all this went down. The one and only good thing to come out of the downfall of Project Insight. She needed a different approach. "So consider the potential he could bring to Stark Industries with his skills. Then think of what he could do under HYDRA's influence."

Tony drummed his fingers against his desk as he thought over her words, or so it seemed. After EXTREMIS and the Battle of New York, Hill knew just how…passionate he had become about security and peace. His file even stated how much it had affected him, and she had memorized his file (along with the rest of the Avengers). Because of that, she knew he had already snagged every single declassified file dumped by Rogers and Romanov.

"Fine. I'll send out some feelers and see if I can't locate him. _If_ he's alive."

Hill nodded and stood to leave. She had accomplished what she needed to with this little meeting, even if she "forgot" to mention one little detail about Engineer Higurashi to Stark. After all, if they did find him alive and not in HYDRA hands, then his sister would likely never become a problem for them.

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><p><strong>Updated 6 September 2014<strong>

_I know many of you may be yelling at me to update my other stories, but... I lost my flash drive that held all my stories (among other things) on it, so I have to rewrite everything from scratch. And I'm just not that into doing that at the moment. So I'm trying to regain my spark for writing, by doing this new little series. Every chapter will be about this long, I don't have this finished, but probably expect frequent updates because of those two reasons._

_This takes place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and all that entails, with a little filling in from the comics for future films that haven't been released yet._


	2. II

"Never trust anyone, especially the people you admire. Those are the ones who will make you suffer the worst blows." – Carlos Ruiz Zafón, _The Shadow of the Wind_

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><p><strong> I. II. 6 April 2014<strong>

Engineer Higurashi managed to stumble into a town only two nights later. He knew if he kept heading north from where his secret escape passage let out in the mountains, he would eventually reach the nearby town. But he wasn't that great at camping or roughing it in the woods, and if it hadn't been for the compass built into his watch, he wouldn't have found north at all. The only good thing was that the weather in Washington at this time was about the same as the weather in Tokyo, if just a tad warmer.

He knew his suit was rumpled and ripped, his shoes were missing, and he likely smelled on top of all that from too much sweaty desperation, but he knew no one would really mind out here. In these backwoods, hard labor always left its mark on people. But if his mother knew…

Swallowing that thought and a bit of his pride, he entered into the town's only bar, the only establishment open at this time of evening. And when he sat down at the counter, he took a page out of his sister's book for the first time in years by giving no fucks to the looks that he was given.

And it was with a great deal of begrudging curiosity that the bartender walked down and asked him what he wanted. Only two things were on his mind:

"May I have some water and the use of a phone? I…I got lost and need to see if someone can get me."

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><p>Tony Stark sat in his workshop, surrounded by holoprojections of all the S.H.I.E.L.D. files he managed to snag before they were reclassified again by a U.S. Homeland Security taskforce. There was something about the name Higurashi he hadn't been able to shake since Hill mentioned it to him. And before that brat arrived at the tower, he needed to know all he could about him.<p>

Yet, for some godforsaken reason, he couldn't find the name Higurashi anywhere. Under Fury's paranoia, no names were attached to S.H.I.E.L.D. creations to keep the brilliant minds who created them in the shadows. But everyone seemed to know who this Engineer Higurashi was, where he worked (despite the base being so classified it didn't exist in any of the files either), and what he looked like enough to have no problems killing an entire facility to get to him. Even with—

"JARVIS, bring back that last file."

The A.I. rotated the last file back up to center and enhanced it. And there it was, that name. Just that last name. "Run a search for anything involving 'The Index' and 'Higurashi'."

"Of course, sir," the A.I. said. "And, as per your usual request, I held all calls until now. Ms. Potts called earlier and asked you to call her back. Mr. Hogan called as well, saying he has the engineer and they have boarder their flight back here. They should arrive in the morning, as scheduled."

Tony nodded, still staring at the file, trying to figure out what it all meant. "Good. Speed up the search. I want to know everything before they get here. And call Pepper back, let her know I'll be busy until tomorrow night."

JARVIS confirmed as he dismissed the files in front of him. That had been almost a total waste of time, only giving him more questions than he started with. He should have known doing anything for Hill would have come back to bite him in the ass in such a way. Anything to do with S.H.I.E.L.D. had a way of being a pain in his ass, and he was starting to feel that normal, acid reflux/heart burn start bubbling up. Which was why it was now the perfect time to go back to perfecting his newest (and currently, only) suit.

Yet, sooner than he thought given the search terms, JARVIS interrupted.

"Sir, I have what you requested. I could only find one report involving both. I don't believe you'll find anything of use in it. Also, I took the liberty of looking further into the boy's background and could not locate any form of identification for anyone matching his criteria."

Great. More good news. It just kept coming for him. "Bring it up." He attached the forearm and hand armor, flexing the finger joints to make sure he calibrated it correctly. Muscle memory and work was all he needed at the moment to get through all this wonderful news. Especially when he finally looked up at the file JARVIS had found. "Just like I thought. S.H.I.E.L.D. always did love playing with markers."

Aside from the logo and a few select words (_Higurashi. Shrine. Burn._), the entire file was redacted. Even the date.

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><p><strong>Updated 6 September 2014<strong>


	3. III

"Never trust anyone, especially the people you admire. Those are the ones who will make you suffer the worst blows." – Carlos Ruiz Zafón, _The Shadow of the Wind_

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><p><strong>I. III. 7 April 2014<strong>

It felt like he had lost an entire day to traveling. Granted, it hadn't been on foot this time (which made it slightly more bearable), but with the company of Stark's personal driver and one of his closest friends (which made it _that_ much more unbearable). Republic, Washington, as he found out the town was called soon after stumbling into it, was almost six hours by car from Seattle. From there, it was another six hours from Seattle to New York, by private jet this time. Had Engineer Higurashi not known better, he would almost say he felt kidnapped. The one thing that stopped him from going that far was that both Fury and Hill vouched for Stark and his trustworthiness, especially in matters involving foiling the plans of the U.S. government.

But he didn't get to this point in his life by trusting just anyone, not anymore. He may be naïve and looked for the best in others, carryovers from his childhood days, but working for a secret government agency with compartmented clearance levels taught him the value of trust. So he let Happy Hogan do all the talking for the entire trip, barely answering when needed. Had he still been under the age of twelve, he would have been thrilled and bouncing in his seat from joy, because not just anyone gets to meet and work for the child genius, one of the youngest CEO's, billionaire philanthropist, and suave playboy known as Tony Stark.

That, however, was the person he was fourteen years ago.

Now… Now he didn't know what kind of person he was, or even if his younger self would be proud at being this person. He gave up football and childhood heroes for technology and government agencies and anonymity. Few of it was by choice, but he had long learned to leave it at "what happened, happened."

Maybe, just _maybe_, he could look at this change as one for the better. At some point, he had to start living for himself and doing what he wanted rather than what others wanted or needed.

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><p>She hadn't been to Santa Rosa in almost one-hundred-and-ten years, nearly to the day and year. But—<em>no<em>, she couldn't dwell on those thoughts. She had a mission, a reason, for being back on the West Coast of North America. The sip she took of her black coffee was deliberate, just like the way she smoothed down the napkin notes she had with her other hand. It held all the reasons why she needed to focus on the present, not the past.

Three days ago, she had been living a quiet (or as close to it as she could get) life in Peru, but there was no city she could run to that was completely disconnected from the rest of the world. Three days ago, S.H.I.E.L.D. fell and was branded a terrorist organization by the U.S. and world governments. She heard whispers of HYDRA, but she couldn't confirm that and neither could her case worker. But it all meant that technically, she didn't have one of those anymore and her agreement with S.H.I.E.L.D. was also null and void.

It was easy enough for her to ditch the agent, and easy enough to leave Peru undetected as well. But it also meant—

Souta.

She had to get to Souta. There was no way for her to know what S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fall meant for him, if he was safe, if he was in prison, if he had been—no, she couldn't think like that. Not at a time like this. She only had to focus on getting to him undetected and as fast as possible. Many things in the past may have happened, but his safety was always her top priority.

Santa Rosa was as close as she dared to get to the middle of bumfuck nowhere, Washington where he was stationed. While she may have been able to ditch her babysitter and the world's governments may have denounced S.H.I.E.L.D., she knew better. She knew the agency better than anyone, and she knew it wasn't entirely gone. Not yet. Just as she knew whatever managed to bring it out and down was dangerous to her and her brother. And if there was one lesson she had learned (painfully, slowly), it was about the importance of discretion.

She could only hope to make it to him in time to save him.

"Oh! He's on again! Turn it up!" She started and spilled some of her coffee over her hand and her messy notes at the sudden, and far too close, yell of another woman.

Hissing, she was ready to yell the ear off whatever air-headed woman decided to yell about something so mundanely _human_ when she noticed that everyone was focused on the shop's TV. And she did mean _everyone_. Upon seeing Tony Stark take the stage, she rolled her eyes and just about turned away.

But there—

_Souta_.

Her earlier ire faded as quickly as it came in favor of a small, fond smile. The years had, apparently, been good to her baby brother. She didn't even try to hear the broadcast over all the adoring gushes of women wanting into the billionaire's pants, reading the reel at the bottom instead.

He was safe. While she didn't agree with the Avenger's Initiative, and Stark Industries even less, she knew he was the only one who could keep a recently branded former terrorist protected. That was enough for her.

She crumpled her plans to get to Washington, shoving them into her half-full coffee cup and throwing it all away on her way out of the shop. Instead, she had new plans involving New York to make.

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><p><strong>Updated 9 September 2015<strong>

_Thank you all for all the lovely reviews! I may not get to respond to you all, but I definitely love seeing your speculations, what you liked (and what you didn't), and what you're looking forward to. They always make me smile, and I can only hope you all enjoy this chapter as well._


	4. IV

**IV.**  
>"Make no mistake: peaceful madmen are ahead of the future." – Gabriel Garcia Marquez, <em>Memories of My Melancholy Whores<em>

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><p>Sometime after destroying his old life in California after Pepper's close call with EXTREMIS and sometime before he began collecting the lost agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony took a look at his life. Near-death experiences had that effect on him, as they should. It was just that he was never fully the best at letting old habits die hard or putting less than a hundred percent of himself into something he felt strongly about.<p>

Fortunately, he wanted to make the world into a place where no one would have to worry about Eldritch Killians, or (more recently) the very real threat of the Ten Rings and the real Mandarin. World peace was the most noble of goals.

Unfortunately, he wanted world peace.

Now, instead of obsessively building suits, he obsessively scoured the internet (well, J.A.R.V.I.S., really) looking for ways to achieve such a dream. What he went through with Pepper was not something he wanted anyone else to go through. What he fought on a regular basis was not something he wanted others to have to fight or worry about.

Privatizing global security and taking in ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. members was just the first step into realizing this new goal of his. Engineer Higurashi could help him in the rest, if he was as brilliant as his projects and gadgets showed him to be.

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><p>Souta had met Agent Hill only twice during his time at S.H.I.E.L.D. and three times before that. So it was strange for him to be around her so much now, and report directly to her instead of through different channels. But it was a nice change, if he said so himself. Especially since she was a constant in his recently upturned yet again life.<p>

If there was one thing he could say about her, it was that she was dedicated. The job always came first and anything else just didn't matter. Especially if it was personal. And more than that, she was next to impossible to rattle.

"You know, you've been constantly looking over your shoulder this entire week." Seeing her so rattled enough to be doing what he observed was enough to stress him out as well. If something could bother Hill, then it was a serious problem.

She swiveled her chair around to give him a look, complete with a harsh glare. That was something he would have to get used to: she didn't like small talk during work hours, especially under Stark's always watchful eye in the Tower. "You know why."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow and gave two seconds to thinking about it. "If it's about not having the F.B.I. or the C.I.A. breathing down your neck every time you sneeze, then you really need to get out more."

Her glare deepened and he swore she could probably boil water with it. "No, that's not it and you know it."

"I don't— Oh." But then he remembered.

"Yes." With SHIELD disbanded, for the most part but no one needed to know about that, The Index and the case workers associated with each person on it were, effectively, no more. Everyone on that list was free to roam and do whatever they wanted.

"You're overreacting about it."

"You're only saying that because you would never be in danger."

He couldn't really deny that, but… "I know her, she doesn't hold grudges like that. So stop worrying. It'll just make it easier for her to mess with you when she does get here."

Hill rolled her eyes and swiveled back around to her own work station. It was the clearest dismissal one could get from her. He did the same, but for different reasons. S.H.I.E.L.D. always overreacted with his sister, all because they just didn't understand her and couldn't contain or cross her off. That was why he was in S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first place, as collateral.

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><p><em>Thank you again for all the lovely reviews! I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well.<br>_


	5. V

**V.**  
>"The best way of keeping a secret is to pretend there isn't one." – Margaret Atwood, <em>The Blind Assassin<br>_

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><p>It had taken her a week, but she finally found her way to New York City. Between different modes of transportation and some back-tracking to make sure if someone did want to follow her, they would have to work <em>very<em> hard for her current location, it took some time. But it would be worth it, even though all she had in mind was to make sure Souta was OK. The attack on the base she knew he had worked at didn't take long to reach her ears. And if there was one thing she put paramount over all, it was the safety of her family.

Unfortunately for Souta, he was all that was left of that family. And unfortunately, she didn't believe in random happenstance anymore either. The fact that he was the only survivor from that base didn't escape her notice.

There was just one problem, she didn't know how forgiving he was. And she had much to be blamed for in the direction of his life. So she resolved to stay quiet and low. Let him think she was still off somewhere in the world with no clue as to what he had been going through.

And while he thought that, Kagome settled into a new job just down the street at a cafe. Stark would often drive by or test run his new suits through the street late at night, to which she could only roll her eyes. Captain America and Sam would often jog by in the mornings. She had even seen Agent Hill once or twice walking by, on her phone, thankfully. Hill was the one she had to watch out for, it she was noticed by her then the jig might as well be up.

As the week turned into a month, Kagome managed to avoid detection by Hill. The other members of that little 'Avengers' group didn't worry her, they didn't know her. They only just knew Souta, and he probably had said nothing of having a sister.

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><p>Just down the street, in Stark Tower, Souta was having similar thoughts. He hadn't really left the tower in over a month, but he watched and scoured news reports religiously for some type of news. As much as he loved his sister, she had the worst luck. And he knew that if she knew, she would ditch her watchers (possibly in some weird, strange, and very loud event that would escape <em>no one's<em> notice) and try to find him.

While he laughed at Hill's concerns and teased her mercilessly about being scared of his sister and what she could do, he knew her concerns and fears were valid. Just on the wrong reasons. It wasn't his sister they should fear, but whoever was after her. And he knew his sister enough to know she would come looking for him given the information out there.

But no one else in the tower knew of the danger she, and inadvertently him, could put all of them in. If she turned up, he would likely leave to spare them all the trouble that would follow. It was just that this time, he didn't want to leave. Everyone here, everyone he interacted and worked with trying to keep the world safe was fun and nice and they made him feel normal for once.

The guilt of lying to them about everything in his past was eating at him.

"OK, that's the fifth time you've sighed in the last two minutes. Do something else." Wilson said, a glare on his face.

Souta stopped flipping through channels, stopping in the middle of some report about some government agent being extradited for attempted kidnapping somewhere in Peru. "Like what? I'm so bored." It was another lie that added onto his conscience.

"It's because you're lazy. Get your shoes on and come for a run with Steve and me for once."

Souta sighed and leaned deeper into the couch. It was true: he was lazy. Running went against his lifestyle outside of sports. "Fine."

Little did he know that run would change everything.

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><p><em>Thank you again for all the lovely reviews! I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well.<br>_


	6. VI

**VI.**

"I'd never believed in luck. Never had any cause to. Never relied on it, because I never could." – Lee Child, _Killing Floor_

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><p>One would think that after so many years, Kagome would have learned to notice the signs that her luck was about to run out, but she never really did. She preferred to think of herself as a true idealist, someone who hoped for the best and planned for the worst. But the truth was that, yes, she was an idealist, but a bad one. She hoped for the best and planned for it. If she happened to plan ahead for something bad that could happen, it was either because she had learned to do so in that situation or that strange moment of pure dumb luck.<p>

And every time her luck was about to run out, the day always started so lovely and perfect. She woke feeling refreshed and rested for the first time in months before her alarm went off (which was a first, even after so many years), actually had breakfast, made it to work on time, and was actually doing an amazing job at handling customers and orders. She felt like nothing could go wrong with the day, and that should have been her final warning sign.

So focused was she on creating the perfect kitty face for a young girl's coffee, that she didn't bother to look up when the bell jingled, letting in more customers. But at hearing the adoring and appreciative sighs of her coworkers had her looking up and around in confusion. All of them immediately started setting down the rules for rock-paper-scissors-winner-gets-to-wait-on-their-table, and she rolled her eyes before focusing on finishing her masterpiece.

She smiled and wiped off the sides of the mug. "Jones!" was her only warning before her boss dropped a pad in front of her. She started, but managed to keep her design from being ruined. "Since you're the only one with a straight head on, table five is yours."

Her coworkers sighed in disappointment, and Kagome did as well. "But…"

"No." And then he walked away before she could finish her protest. But since she was already on strike two, mainly from being late so often, she swallowed her desire to say more.

Until she glanced over at the table in question.

"Lucky," one coworker said in a sing-song voice.

Kagome could only cringe.

No. No, she was very unlucky.

Souta was supposed to be a lazy recluse who never really grew out of playing with toys. That was why she felt all right taking this job so close to him. Damn whoever managed to put some drive in his lazy butt.

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><p>Perhaps everyone was right and he did need to get out more, Souta thought. Unlike the two men with him (never mind the fact that one of them was a super-soldier and the other was a trained soldier, while he was merely a lab-rat with gadgets and some field experience), he was still trying to catch his breath even though they had been resting for at least five minutes now. No, all Souta could really focus on was that he was so out of shape when compared to his younger self, and perhaps he should try to change that.<p>

"So…" he drawled, trying to make conversation. Both men were quiet, pretending to read over their menus like people do when they know what they want at their favorite place, yet trying to be polite for the new person. "What's good here? I didn't even know there was a café just down the road." He hoped if the coffee was good, that they would do deliveries. He lived on it, yet hated making it. It was the worst thirty minutes of everyday for him.

"Because you're a shut-in," Sam helpfully replied with a smirk. Souta could only roll his eyes in response.

"Everything's good. Haven't had anything bad here yet," was Steve's more helpful reply.

"Hm…" Souta glanced back down at the menu. He wondered just how terrible it would be to gorge himself on the thing with the most fat and calories after their jog. Then he realized that he just didn't care. Coffee could, would, and did sustain him.

"Are you guys ready to order?"

His head snapped up so fast that he tweaked one of the muscles in his neck. It had been a good three years since he heard that voice, but no amount of time could make him forget it. Like a parent's voice or touch was unforgettable, so was a sibling's. Especially when it was an older sibling, because they had always been there, in every memory, every crevice, every pore in his body.

She wouldn't meet his eyes, and shuffled from foot-to-foot as if she didn't want to be there. While he had thought about what it would be like to see his sister a lot through the years, what he would say to her or do, his mind actually went blank instead. All the carefully constructed conversations, all the scenarios about how this would go: how they would embrace and apologize, laugh and cry about all that had happened…

It all fell away and he was left with nothing. It all escaped him at the moment he needed it most, and he could only look upon her dumbly.

Sam elbowed him, bringing him out of his stupor and he noticed the worried looks he was getting from both of them. But more than that, he noticed how she still wouldn't meet his eyes.

Instead of doing anything a normal person would do, like follow her lead and pretend they didn't know each other for the moment, or place an order, or try not to make more of a scene, he did the opposite. He stood up so fast from his seat (probably knocked it over, but like he could care at the moment) and slammed his hands down on the table.

It had the effect he wanted as she finally met his eyes. The same shade of grey that he had and their mother had in their eyes met him for the first time in five years. "Kagome…"

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><p><em>Thank you for all the lovely reviews! I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well, as I know many of you have been waiting for this.<br>_


	7. VII

**VII.**

"Nature gave man two ends: one to sit on, and one to think with. Ever since then, man's success or failure has been dependent on the one he used most." – George R. Kirkpatrick

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><p>Unlike their newest addition to their strange little rag-tag group of "global security" professionals, Steve actually knew how to react as his training had taught him, at all times. So even when Souta stood up and caused the entirety of the café's patronage to stare at their table, he didn't even flinch. Instead he put down his menu with the deliberateness of an oblivious man about to walk into a trap. Except he wasn't. He knew exactly what he was doing.<p>

And when the other patrons saw just how unaffected Sam and he were, they began to doubt their own curiosity toward what was happening. Sometimes Steve found it utterly sad just how easy it was to mislead and trick groups of people. Individuals were harder. People were too easy.

And now that that was one problem taken care of, he focused his attention on the woman who had been their usual waiter for the past few weeks without focusing his attention on her. He looked at her as if she was still just their normal, not-wanting-to-be-there-like-usual waitress. Which, if Souta really _did_ know her, could quite possibly explain why she was the only one in this little place that never truly wanted to serve them. She never made eye contact or chit-chatted with them like he had noticed her doing to other customers all the time. It was as though she was trying to avoid them.

Which meant she was actually trying to avoid _Souta_, and that meant she knew exactly who they were and their involvement. Possibly. He wasn't a gambling man in the slightest, yet he was willing to bet money on that.

But when she finally did make eye contact and Steve saw her full face up-close for the very first time, he understood.

It was in the shape of their eyes and jawline, the nervous tapping their fingers did against their arms or whatever available surface; it was even in their sigh. He had heard Souta sigh in that exasperated, yet defeated tone enough over the last week to immediately know he had learned it from the woman in front of them. Or taught it to her, given the ages they appeared to seem.

"Nee-chan," Souta said, this time reaching toward her. He didn't know what it meant, but he could guess given everything.

Sarah – or rather, Kagome, as he supposed that was her actual name – sighed that sigh before looking away from them again.

"Sit down, Souta," she said. And Souta did as he was told. Perhaps it was the tone that siblings used with each other, but he never had any to know. "I take it you both will have your regulars?"

Sam nodded one too many times, caught off-guard. So Steve answered for them. "Yeah, and I'm sure he'll want—"

"His normal disgusting concoction of sugared coffee water." She smiled, and he realized it was the first time he had ever seen her smile despite being in here near every day. "I know. I'll be back with your orders and on break."

"But nee-chan," Souta started.

But she smiled again and adjusted her name tag. "Watashi wa Sarah to iimasu."

Again, he had no idea what was said, but Souta seemed to. Kagome/Sarah, whoever she was, walked away only after seeing him nod. That would give both Sam and him a good ten-to-twenty to get an understanding on the situation.

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><p>"So…" It was Sam who broke the uneasy silence first. And Souta almost wanted to cringe. He took it to mean Steve was planning and going over everything. The super-soldier serum was almost too good, in Souta's opinion, it made him even smarter and able to pick up on the smallest details. It just wasn't fair, especially in this instance.<p>

"Hm?" He glanced at Sam and Steve as if nothing was wrong. If they wanted answers, they had to ask questions first.

"You're related to her, aren't you?" He glanced at Steve before nodding.

"Yeah. She's nee-chan. Um, my…" he paused for a moment, trying to think if he should be general or specific. Then he sighed; this would reach Hill's ears one way or another, and then everyone involved in the group would know. "My older sister."

Sam whistled lowly before leaning forward to stare at him. It was unnerving and made Souta feel like he had a lot more to hide than he did. "Just how old are you two then?"

Instead of answering that directly, he shrugged. "We just look young. Our mom always did, too. No one believed she had two kids and was in her fifties with her aging. We just got lucky, my sister more so than me." And that wasn't a lie. His sister _was_ lucky, he just didn't specify the kind.

Steve leaned back and looked toward the counter, probably trying to figure out how much longer they had. "How long has it been since you've seen her?"

And at that Souta sighed. Way too long and not long enough, in his opinion. "We last spoke a few years ago, when she moved to Peru. But I haven't actually seen her in like, five or so." He chanced to look at them and grimaced at the skepticism play lightly in their eyes. "Our jobs… I guess you could say we had jobs that had really conflicting schedules."

And if that wasn't the truth, Souta wasn't a guy. (Despite his sister's teasing to the contrary, Souta was completely positive he was one.)

Sam opened his mouth to ask another question, but his sister's impeccable timing cropped up again. He almost sighed in relief when he saw both men quieten and wait for her to join them before saying anything more. And all Souta really knew it was this: if there was one thing he was sure he would learn from today, it was to never go jogging with coworkers.

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><p><em>Thank you for all the lovely reviews! Please don't hesitate to let me know if you liked it or something seems weirdoff.  
><em>


	8. VIII

_VIII.  
>"Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides." - Andre Malraux<br>_

* * *

><p>Unfortunately for Souta, his day went from moderately-OK to somewhat-bad in the span of a few hours. First, the <em>jogging<em>. Next, his sister. And finally, Hill. While his sister could put the fear of God in Hill by just _existing_, Hill could put the fear of zero procreation into _him_ with a look. In a lot of ways, she reminded him of his mother whenever he did anything bad. His mother always knew, even if she was in another room. Just like Hill always knew when he was goofing off or doing something he shouldn't even if they weren't in the same building.

It was Hill who greeted Steve, Sam, and him when they returned from their very unenlightening conversation with his sister. And instead of doing the normal thing to not arouse the curiosity of their still-in-the-dark coworkers, she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into an empty room. Souta even saw Stark look after them with a raised eyebrow and a wolf whistle.

"What's your problem!?" he asked as soon as the door closed and she released him. And he couldn't help rubbing the spot she had grabbed; the woman had an iron grip and he bruised easily.

"What's my problem?" she mocked. "My problem is who you were just with!"

He winced. "So you heard already?"

And she crossed her arms, staring down at him as if he just asked how to kill a puppy. "Everything we do is watched by not only Stark, but by every agency in America. And none of them know about The Index or the Inhumans Project."

Souta winced again. "I know, but…"

"You can't justify this. If it comes out that we kept even a few secrets to ourselves when we turned ourselves in, even Stark's lawyers are going to have a hard time." She huffed. "And that's not even mentioning all the hysteria that will come from just proving those two are real."

He sighed and sat down. These were all things he knew, because they were the reality of his life since his sister returned. He ran his fingers through his hair as he attempted to think of something, anything, they could use to make this better when people started asking questions. Engineer Higurashi had no sister, no family, and was a third-generation Japanese American. Kagome didn't fit into this life.

"I didn't even know she was there… And I don't think she even wanted to actually meet me."

Hill sighed, and for the first time softened her expression toward him. She was the only other person who knew anything about everything that happened. And while he knew she rightly feared what his sister could and would do to her and the world, she also knew how much it had destroyed their relationship.

"I don't doubt that. She's never been fond of ruining your life."

"Even though she's good at it," he muttered. It probably sounded unkinder than he meant it, because it was just a simple fact of life that he was still trying to come to terms with. Only he didn't have the luxury of lifetimes like she did.

Hill said nothing to his words, likely pretending that she didn't hear anything. "We should probably think about telling them about some of it."

He sighed again, slumping further in his seat. While he had been debating and weighing his guilt for the last few weeks about not telling them, he didn't exactly look forward to telling them any of the truth. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't nice, and he had too many unresolved issues involving it to be willing to say anything about it. "Should we bring her when we tell them? Since she knows the most about it."

"No. No one here trusts her enough to bring her anywhere near these floors. And she knows it."

* * *

><p>She had ruffled Souta's hair with so much practiced care and smiled so fondly as she told them, <em>"Take good care of my baby brother, OK,"<em> that Steve couldn't imagine some – any – part of the entire scene being false. And yet –

"I can bring up his file, but I'm telling you the only family listed on there is a mother and father, and both are deceased," Stark said. "There's no siblings listed on his file."

Stark seemed more than certain of himself, and Steve was hard-pressed to argue against him on this. If there was one thing that Stark was these days, it was slightly paranoid. He probably memorized the files of every employee working with him in this global security venture of his. And he had no doubt that he had looked extensively into Souta's file before the kid even physically arrived at the tower.

"You weren't there," Sam said. "You didn't see them. You can't fake sibling bonds like that." And Steve nodded. While he had no first-hand experience, he knew enough about close family bonds to know that they just couldn't be faked.

"But backgrounds can. Especially when someone works for S.H.I.E.L.D."

Tony turned to look at him this time, frowning. "Yeah, but then you have to ask yourself why would they go so far for some kid? And it's not just because he's good at making things. Lots of people are good at making things."

Steve shrugged. "Who knows? Didn't you look into him before you hired him?"

"I did!" And Tony finally let the first sign of his frustration show as he ran his fingers through his hair then began to pace. "And he doesn't exist beyond paper. The only other thing that exists with anything involving any part of his name is a completely redacted file from something called 'The Index'."

Sam and Steve shared a look. Neither of them had heard of such a thing, but that wasn't so surprising given how S.H.I.E.L.D. had been set up. Steve was almost positive that only Fury and Hill knew everything that went on in the agency. "What's The Index?"

Stark threw his hands up in the air. "Damned if I know. The only other thing involving it, is just a list of names that exist nowhere else."

"The Index is a list of people and objects who may or may not have powers."

Even Steve jumped at hearing Hill's voice. They had been so focused on their own conversation that they had completely forgotten that Hill and Higurashi were just behind them in a room. The way Souta couldn't meet their eyes and clenched his fists told Steve all he needed to know about how much the boy wanted to be in this conversation.

"Ooohhh, so finally going to share more of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets?"

Hill narrowed her eyes at Tony. "Against my better judgment. But she's forced my hand a bit."

"She?" Sam asked.

"Kagome Higurashi… my older sister," Souta said. He wouldn't meet any of their eyes.

Hill glanced at him long enough for Steve to wonder about their connection and how much each of them knew about each other and the situation. "And as far as anyone is concerned, she never existed. And The Index has never had a candidate on it with actual powers or true ability."

"Which means… she's a big cover-up?" Stark said before Steve even had the chance to say anything more tactful.

Souta sighed. "Yeah. One of the first."

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><p><em>Thanks for all the reviews! Hope you all enjoy this chapter as well!<br>_


	9. IX

_IX.  
><em>"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers." - Thomas Pynchon,_ Gravity's Rainbow  
><em>

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><p>"All right," Tony drawled, breaking the silence that fell after Souta's little nugget of information. Really, he couldn't understand why Steve and Sam weren't jumping all over the chance to get some information about S.H.I.E.L.D. that no one else had, especially after everything that went down not all that long ago. "I think I'm going to need you to start that over, from the beginning this time."<p>

The kid snorted at him. _At him_. Like what he asked was really that hard. "Which beginning do you want?"

Tony couldn't help it, he started to pace. It was what he did nowadays as he thought. It helped him burn off anxiety, or some such psychobabble nonsense like that. Point was, he didn't care so long as he was moving. "First, _who_ are you really?" He ticked the points off on his fingers. "Second, who the hell is this sister you may or may not have? Third, The Index? And finally, for the moment, what do you even mean by powers?"

He stopped pacing when he heard both Souta and Hill sigh. And when he turned around to look, both Steve and Sam had an eyebrow raised.

"Seriously?" Sam said. "Aren't you going to, you know, let them actually answer a question before asking more?"

Tony shrugged. "Why? We all want them answered, and this may be our only chance to actually get some answers." Seriously, Tony couldn't understand why they weren't jumping all over this opportunity. S.H.I.E.L.D. gave insight into their operations about as much as a nun opened her legs.

"Fine. To answer your first question, I actually _am_ Souta Higurashi. I was born with that name and I happen to like it. And my mother and father are dead."

"Just enough truth for no one to question it," Steve finally said. And Souta nodded.

"OK, but that doesn't tell me why you don't exist elsewhere. There's no birth records, no school records, no nothing." _That_ was what was really bothering Tony. No one should have their entire identity wiped that clean, not these days. Technology was too prevalent in every aspect of someone's life that they _always_ left some sort of trace behind.

"Because S.H.I.E.L.D. wiped it clean," Hill answered this time. "There was…an incident, involving his sister. Unless you lived nearby their shrine in Tokyo, you wouldn't even know they had lived there."

"What type of incident causes that level of clean up?" Now, Tony was really curious. SHIELD did clean-ups, yes, but never to completely erase a family from existence. That took time, money and effort he didn't know they were willing to put forward. It was starting to look more and more like they were doing all this because of the sister, not the boy. Which made so much more sense to him. The boy, while intelligent and brilliant and creative, was just not that special.

So wrapped in his thoughts, he almost didn't notice the look Souta and Hill shared. _Almost_. The boy hesitated before answering. "That's more… Kagome and Fury are really the only ones who could fully answer that question. But after it happened, my mom and grandfather were dead, I became a ward of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Kagome's been moved around the world."

"I take it she was already involved with SHIELD before that, if she really is one of their first 'cover-up's, like you said," Steve said. And Tony had to nod in agreement. That had almost slipped his mind as he thought over all that could have happened. Plus, all the different things he could have JARVIS help him look into to see if he could find anything out about what happened. And if all that failed, then it shouldn't be that hard to track down one woman. Or so he thought.

Souta nodded, but it was Hill who answered this time. "Kagome has been around since the beginning, from my understanding. She's…" For the first time, Tony saw Hill at a loss for words. Or, at least, at a loss in trying to word something without giving away too much. Either way, it was a first. "Kagome is a very special case. She is both in her thirties, and over five-hundred years old. She's the first documented and proven case of a time travel, and an immortal because of the method used to do so."

Time travel. That was a new one. "You're not saying she traveled to the past? Because I'm pretty sure the only proven method for such a thing is only for traveling forward?"

Steve shrugged. "The Nazis were working on a few things to make such a thing possible. I don't think they succeeded, though."

"Because it just isn't possible!" Tony wanted to tear at his hair, but that would defeat the purpose. Instead he started pacing again, trying to think this through."

"You pal around with a Norse god from another world or dimension, or whatever the hell it is, and literally almost had the fabric of reality ripped open by a magical artifact, and you want to tell me it's impossible to travel back in time?"

Tony stopped pacing and glared at the kid. Who was entirely too smug about his whole tirade at the moment. "Point grudgingly given, kid. So how do you even explain what she did?"

"A magical artifact did it."

Tony glared at Hill this time, even though she didn't answer. "Just how many of these magical artifacts are out and about in the world that can destroy the world and reality?"

She glared back. "I can't say. Because most of them aren't even on Earth."

"What about hers?"

Souta and Hill both shook their head. "It's destroyed."

Tony narrowed his eyes, and he was pretty sure that Steve and Sam did the same. The two of them answered too quickly for it to have been the truth. "_Right_. Because it's just that easy."

Souta nodded. "Yeah. It is. Sometimes. Well, that time it apparently was." Then he shrugged. "She never really told me."

"OK, I have got to meet her." And that was the truth. All these answers just made him want to meet her. In his mind, she had to be someone with such charisma and power that she couldn't be overlooked. He wanted to see what kind of person could make Hill nervous and a secret agency completely wipe a family from existence. He had some answers, yes, but now he wanted more.

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><p><em>Thank you all again for the lovely reviews, favs, and alerts! I hope this chapter didn't disappoint.<em>


	10. X

_X.  
><em>"Those eyes had seen people weep, and had cared, and had hurt them again anyway." - Orson Scott Card, _Maps in a Mirror _

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><p>Kagome regretted choosing her ringtone now. She chose something loud and annoying enough that she couldn't sleep through it or ignore it, as she had a bad habit of doing both. Especially if she downloaded some catchy pop song for it, as she would be too busy humming along with the music to answer it. But now, she was ready to throw it against the wall.<p>

Souta. Four times he called in the last thirty minutes. And she still didn't know if she should answer it or not. Usually it was Souta who ignored her calls and letters, and she couldn't blame him. But she almost felt bad for doing the same to him now. Even though she knew exactly why he was calling.

Not only had he been foolish enough to blow both of their covers in less than a minute, but he did so in front of two ex-members of S.H.I.E.L.D. and newly recruited members of Stark's global security force. And she was positive that Hill knew of it, too. Not to mention Stark likely knew now as well. Which meant that they likely wanted to talk to her, to find out more, and Souta was the best (and only) person to use to do so.

But she was tired. She was tired of agencies, of governments, of living more than one life. And she was beyond tired of messing with her little brother's life.

So she swiped her phone off the table and under some chair, where its ringing was muffled. Then she walked over to bathroom and removed the tank top of the toilet. The Ziploc baggie she taped to the inside was easily removed. She upturned the bag and sat down next to the contents.

One of the very first things she learned after living well beyond what she should have, was that she had to always have an escape plan. Through the centuries, she cultivated little caches for herself to fall back on. Money, a place to live, a new identity; that was the easy part. The hard part was finding a way to leave.

The whole reason she came here was to make sure Souta was all right and safe. And to make sure he stayed that way. Kagome was more than positive that with who he surrounded himself with, not to mention Hill herself, that he would be safe. It had always been for the best, he was safest when they were apart. Even before she had lived for centuries, he was always getting into trouble when she stayed around him. Or she was. The point was, they were better off apart.

Even with S.H.I.E.L.D. disbanded, she had her own ways to keep an eye on her baby brother. And there was technology now that always made him just a phone call away.

She sighed and blew her hair out of her face, or attempted to at least. "Where to go…where to go." Five centuries ago, she would have stayed and rode out the consequences. Compared to her, who had centuries, what were consequences? But now… She knew there were some things that haunted no matter what one forgot throughout the centuries, no matter what one thought they could live with.

"Well, we can try Stark Tower for one?" she jumped, grabbing the tank top, ready to beat down whoever broke into her apartment. Once she saw that it was Stark in his suit, she still didn't put it down.

"How did you get in?"

He pointed back toward her living room. "The door. You should really answer your calls, you know."

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><p><em>Thank you for all the reviews, faves and follows! I hope you all enjoy this chapter just as much as the others!<br>_


	11. XI

_XI._**_  
><em>**

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><p>Tony watched as she never once considered putting down the tank lid. He knew from prior experience that they were just about one of the heaviest things a woman could throw at him. And it being porcelain and easily shattered didn't mean less pain. Sadly, it usually meant more. And that was his cue to not even open the visor on his helmet. Porcelain shards in his face? No thanks.<p>

Instead, he went over and grabbed her phone out from under a chair. She didn't follow, and he wasn't all that surprised. If she was as old as they claimed and had been with S.H.I.E.L.D. for as long as they said, he would have been disappointed if she reacted in such ways. He turned the screen on and, again, wasn't surprised when there wasn't a lock screen. As if she would be with the times enough at her age to do such simple privacy measures.

He answered the phone. "She's still here. Give us a few minutes and we'll be back at the tower."

"No, we won't," was her muffled reply. He grinned. He always did like it when a woman played hard to get with him. It was a fun game, one that usually required him to actually _think_ of ways to get a woman to see things his way. They rarely won.

He walked back over to the bathroom, tossing her phone onto her couch, only to find her not there. Instead she retreated into her bedroom and had a bow in her hands, arrow trained on him. "You know, I see where your brother learned his warm welcomes from."

She rolled her eyes, but he wasn't fooled. She never took her focus off him. "We can be welcoming. When the person is deserving of it."

"Am I not deserving?" he asked, mock hurt lacing his voice and putting a hand over his heart. "After I went to all this trouble to save your brother from assassins in Washington—"

"That he had already evaded," she interjected. But he carried on like he didn't hear.

"And then, I graciously gave him a job with a security level high enough to make the government nervous—"

"Likely at the urging of Hill."

"And now, I've gone to all this trouble to track down his illusive and beautiful sister just so he can talk to her. All out of the goodness of my heart."

In response, she snorted. But it did get her to lower the bow. Tony wasn't sure if he liked that, as it either meant she wasn't going to harm or she didn't see him as a threat worth threatening anymore. "No, it's not. It's because Hill is scared and has you all scared."

"I'm not scared." He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm _curious_."

"Now I'm scared," she said and he laughed.

"So there is a sense of humor underneath the hostility! Good to know, good to know."

She slung her bow over her shoulder, arrow still in her hand. "That doesn't mean I'm going to come with you. Tell Souta to forget I was even here."

And she walked passed him without a glance. _Walked_ past _him_. He crossed his arms and watched her go, stopping only to pick up the bag she had been staring at when he first arrived. Given the entire situation and how he found her, he felt he was pretty correct in thinking that she was trying to figure out her exit strategy. That baggie likely held a few different lives and enough cash to skip out the country with it.

It was so amusing to him that she thought it would be that easy.

He opened up her kitchen window, looking down to make sure he had the right side. There was only one way in and out of her shitty little apartment building, and he was pretty sure he thought he didn't know that. If there was one thing their conversation told him, it was that she thought so little of him to underestimate him.

And, sure enough, she stepped outside, glancing around briefly before heading toward the nearest subway. "JARVIS, prep for arrival with the kid's sister in a couple of minutes."

When he received confirmation from the A.I., he jumped out the window, activating his thrusters when he lost enough altitude. Before she could react, he had already weaved his way through the afternoon rush and grabbed her. He only hoped he made it to the Tower fast enough to save himself from some of her physical wrath he knew would be coming, if only because he knew women so well. And he knew exactly how to piss them off.

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><p><em>Thanks for all the reviews, faves and follows! I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well.<br>_


	12. XII

_XII._**_  
><em>**

* * *

><p>One moment, she was walking down the street for the nearest subway. The next, her feet left the ground, an arm was around her waist and for the first time in over a hundred years, she felt the wind rushing through her hair and past her ears.<p>

_Flying_. She was flying again. And she loved it.

And she was going to kill whoever was responsible. The only person able to make her fly was dead and had been dead. It was one thing that belonged to them and no one else.

With a huff, she loosened herself just enough in the metal hold of Iron Man to place her hand against the reactor powering the suit. Kagome would bet all her money over all her identities that Hill and Souta never once explained just who she was or what she was capable of. She pulled on the power within her, just enough as she didn't want to inadvertently kill him, tempting as it may be, and gave his little reactor a zap.

"Shit."

She smiled, knowing he just lost complete power. His thrusters went out and they glided through the air, free-falling. That exhilaration… She missed it. She missed _him_ on the days where she could remember. Like now; for a moment she could almost see a different time, a different place.

And then there was the sound of metal scraping concrete. Her body jolted painfully against the armor he wore as they skidded to a stop. While she knew how to escape, she didn't really think her plan through all the way enough to know it would be a bad idea to fall from the sky.

Iron Man lay motionless on the ground, but she could hear him still breathing inside the suit. She rolled off him and slowly stood, testing out her joints and appendages to make sure nothing was broken. That was when she noticed the crowd of people gathering, staring, and pointing. She frowned as she saw camera flashes going, and no doubt this would end up being on some website within seconds.

Without another thought, she grabbed her bag that had been dropped in the landing and walked off to the subway, like she was just another person. It was another thing that too much time had taught her, if she acted like everyone else, then no one would take notice of her.

Had she been a hundred years younger, she would have stayed and helped him. Maybe she would have even went willingly with him, thus eliminating the need for that confrontation. But time had not been kind, people even less so, especially Americans.

Only in the safety of the anonymity provided by the subway terminal did she allow herself to sit and pull out her passports. She shoved the ones for South America back in as she never went back to the same continent right after leaving it. Too predictable. And while she was feeling homesick, she knew that would be an obvious choice, so the Asian ones went back into her bag as well. She sighed at what was left; she hadn't been to Europe in two hundred years. While she knew it had changed…

_Fire. Witch. "Burn her!" they cried…_

She shoved the Western European ones back into her bag as well. Which left only one.

"You always did like to hide from your problems, sis."

She quickly shoved that life into her bag and turned to look at the man who had snuck up on her. She smiled and ruffled his hair. "And you always did have some sort of sense when it came to stopping me."

"I didn't mean from homework or Hojo, you know." He pouted.

She couldn't stop the wistful edge to her smile. "I know." And then she waited.

He huffed, crossing his arms across his chest. "Stark has GPS in his suit. So when it cut out…" She was never disappointed; he always did love boasting about an accomplishment.

"Hm." That she hadn't known; technology was something she stopped trying to stay on top of. Perhaps that was a bad decision. "So what now, Souta-kun?"

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><p><em>Thanks for all the reviews, faves and follows! I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well. As per my own little resolution for the new year, I have finally joined tumblr where I'll be posting fanfiction and my original fiction, and will hopefully be updating every day. I used to do that years ago on livejournal, but...life. If you have a tumblr and would like to follow me, feel free to do so! The link is in my profile.<br>_


	13. XIII

_XIII._**_  
><em>**

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><p>Steve stood in the sparse apartment of the woman who had so quickly turned their new normal upside down. Had he known letting Souta tag along on a jog would have led to bringing forth so many dark little secrets, he might have reconsidered. <em>Might have<em> being the imperative words there. He may be a good soldier, but even he knew when to question. And S.H.I.E.L.D. had done enough for even him to question it.

While he had always been smart, the super soldier serum made him even more so. So even as Hill lingered by the door, trusting in Souta's ability to bring his sister back more so than she ever trusted Stark too, he was restless. Waiting was not what he did. He was a man of action, he needed movement and motion.

So he wandered through her typical New York apartment. Even his apartment had more furnishings and life to it than hers did. That, more than anything else, told him that both the kid and Hill were telling the truth about her lifestyle. She did not linger long. But the genuine warmth and care in all his (granted, limited and always service-orientated) dealings with her at the café spoke to him of someone used to staying, used to family and friends always near her. Both could not be the case, which simply was not how it worked.

There were no family photos, not even of friends. She kept her fridge stocked just enough to get her through one day. The toilet tank lid lay carefully propped against the wall of her bedroom, within easy reach of anyone looking for a weapon. Stark was likely lucky she didn't use it, and that he took his suit. It also spoke that she had had enough underworld or military dealings to know that the toilet tank was just about the safest place to store something she didn't want found easily.

"She's going to know someone went through here, you know," Hill called out from the entry.

He paused in her bedroom; it was really the only line he wasn't going to cross. She wasn't a suspect, but someone they wanted kept close. Someone Hill still wanted to monitor despite having no reason or authority to anymore. If he were honest with himself, he understood the necessity.

With a sigh, he rejoined her in the other room and sat down on the couch. "I think she's expecting it."

"True enough. She would do the same to anyone else, anyway."

Steve leaned back and eyed her. "Sounds like that comes from experience with her."

In response, Hill didn't tense and give anything away. Instead she gave him a look that told him exactly what he needed to know and that she knew what he was doing. With all of them working for Stark now as equals, more or less, it was easy to forget that she was once directly under Fury; his left hand, so to say. "I've known her for my entire career at S.H.I.E.L.D., Rogers. And time has not changed her, not yet."

Steve didn't believe that for a second. If time couldn't change someone, then they were either dead or in stasis. Even centuries left their mark—

And then the door opened. Brother and sister walked through it hand-in-hand, laughing over something that occurred before they entered. The smile slipped so suddenly from Souta's face that he knew the kid forgot they would be waiting, for a moment at least. But her smile held up, telling him she had been expecting it. Steve wondered if there was anything that could make her lose her composure anymore. But the mutual pursing of lips that Sara—_Kagome? It was Kagome, right?_—and Hill did upon looking at each other spoke volumes more of their relationship than any words Souta or Hill said.

There was so much distrust there. He wondered what had happened to cause it.

Hill nodded once at them. "Welcome back, Kagome. Souta."

Souta nodded back, but Kagome sighed. "Really, can't we just skip over that at this point? With how long we've known each other, can't we ask how the other is doing, what's new in our lives?" she asked, and Steve watched how Hill narrowed her eyes. But when she went to answer, Kagome cut her off. "Oh, that's right. Because you already know."

"Look, we didn't come here to fight," Steve said. Someone needed to break up whatever was simmering between the two women, and since Souta didn't seem like he was going to…

But it just meant Kagome turned her glare to him, even if it did soften. Slightly. "Didn't you? I know who you work for now, and about your little group. 'For global security'. That always means there's going to be a fight."

"We're not going to fight you."

She smiled, and he felt as if he walked into dangerous territory. Even Natasha couldn't raise the hair on the back of his neck like that from just one simple smile. "So if I left right now, you wouldn't stop me."

"No."

"Yes."

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><p><em>Thanks for all the reviews, faves and follows! I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well. I know some of you want longer chapters, but as I stated at the beginning, this is just a little short thing meant to get me back into writing again and to keep me writing. So chapters will stay rather short, with the occasional "normal" length chapter thrown in every now and then.<br>_


	14. XIV

_XIV._

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><p>Souta sighed. It didn't take a genius to notice the rising tension between his sister and Hill. It didn't take someone who had been witness to most of their recent interactions to know that some sort of fight was brewing between the two women. Even he didn't know the full reasons why they couldn't get along, and he was never feeling stupid enough to ask. "Can't we all just pretend to get along for the moment? Or is that a stupid question?"<p>

Both women snapped their glares over to him, and it took every bit of self-control not to look away or show weakness in front of them. Like the wildlife channels always said: don't show your fear and you won't be eaten. This situation seemed just as dangerous as the ones prey often found themselves in.

Surprisingly, it was Kagome who softened first. He knew firsthand how hot and long her temper could run; the fact that she was _still_ pissed at Hill was proof enough of how long she could hold grudges. "Fine," she said, softly with an exhale meant to take her anger away. But it didn't quite look, not with the furrow still between her brows.

She took a step closer to Hill, hand extended. "Allies, for the moment. Until this ill-advised venture is through?"

Yet Hill didn't take it. Instead she looked at Kagome and then to her hand with what he could only describe as suspicion.

He sighed, grabbed Hill's hand and put it in Kagome's. "Friends. Allies. Acquaintances unwilling to kill each other. OK? Kill each other once I'm dead," he said, uncaring of the sharp looks he received in reprimand.

Once he let go of their hands, however, both swatted him upside the head at the same time. "Don't you dare say anything like that again, Souta."

He glared at them both and walked away. _Typical_, the only time they agreed was to gang up on him.

Steve cleared his throat. "As amusing and confusing as this is, I think we came here for a reason."

Souta sighed. He had only touched on what they wanted a little bit on the walk over here with her. He was somewhat unwilling to bring her into his life so fully again. Because she would leave. She always left. And when she did, he was the one left to pick up whatever pieces remained. It was how it always was, always had been since she was fifteen.

"Right. Kagome, we want to offer you a place on the team. At least until we know the extent of what HYDRA knows and if they worked alone," Hill said. And it was fitting that Hill would be the one to offer.

He watched his sister think about it, as if she hadn't already decided. He thought she had, as she always made rash decisions and rarely thought them through. Or at least the sister he once knew did. "You can say no, though." He thoughtfully added.

But the second she met his eyes, he knew. "I guess I'll join. Someone has to make sure no one tries to kidnap Souta again." She was doing it all for him, which meant she was doing it for herself. Both of them knew the reason anyone would go after him would be to get to her, so keeping him safe was keeping her safe.

He liked to conveniently forget that she didn't need to be kept safe. More like kept secret, with all she knew and all she was.

Souta sighed and turned to go into her bedroom. He knew his sister kept her things ready to be packed at a moment's notice, as that had been her life for hundreds of years. And he knew dealing the inevitable just made it that much more unbearable. So while they discussed the finer details, he gathered her things like he was nine again.

Only this time, the first thing he did was take down all her sticky notes on the wall beside her bed. They were her new normal, reminding her of whatever life she was leading at the moment and important events she didn't want to forget. The names of dead friends, of family, of goals and plans and her name were written down and posted so that she could remind herself every morning. He knew how much it embarrassed her, how much other people didn't need to know that private side of herself. So, of the two other times he had done this, he knew to remove and pack those away first before starting on clothes and then weapons.

He returned to the main room just in time to see Stark throw open her front door, still in his newest suit, but very obviously rather beat up. "What'd I miss?"

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><p><em>Thank you all so much for reading! And for all your reviews, favs and alerts! They always make me smile.<br>_


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